The final Boeing DC-8 aircraft flight operated by UPS Airlines touched down Tuesday morning at Louisville International Airport.
The plane received a water cannon tribute as it rolled down the runway.
UPS Airlines, the Louisville-based division of Atlanta-based shipping giant United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS), last month made the decision to retire its fleet of 44 DC-8s as part of a cost-cutting initiative.
The DC-8 largely has become a model of the past as airlines shift to larger, more efficient aircraft. Of the 556 originally produced, only 97 remain in service following the retirement of UPS’s fleet, the company said in a fact sheet.
UPS Airlines sought to eliminate excess capacity from its system as demand for air cargo shipping has declined through the global recession.
UPS flies into more than 800 airports in 200 countries each day. The company now operates about 220 planes and charters an additional 309 planes, according to a separate UPS fact sheet.
UPS once owned 49 DC-8 aircraft, but sold five over the years. The first UPS Airlines DC-8 flight, from Louisville to Milwaukee, occurred on Feb. 1, 1988.
The company now will sell the planes, or disassemble them for spare parts and scrap metal.